THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2006
Volume CXLI, No. 9 NATION SENSATION Resnick ’06 beats out thousands to secure lead role in national tour of ‘Rent’ ARTS & CULTURE 3
www.browndailyherald.com
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 GENERATION Y BOTHER? Maha Atal ’08: Generation Y moves faster than its predecessors, causing broader cultural changes OPINIONS 11
THIS COWHER LOST W. hoops wins two over the weekend, handing Meagan Cowher and the Princeton Tigers their first loss SPORTS 12
TODAY
TOMORROW
partly cloudy 40 / 27
sunny 37 / 23
Gay Shame posters prompt public release of updated harassment policy BY MARY-CATHERINE LADER FEATURES EDITOR
Gay Shame Providence, a group previously unheard of at Brown, posted fliers across campus Wednesday morning criticizing Brenda Allen, associate provost and director of institutional diversity, for not completing a “hate crime protocol” the group described as long overdue. In response, Allen included a link to the University’s new Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Grievance Procedures in Thursday’s edition of Morning Mail. The policy had not previously been advertised to the Brown community, though Allen said it was drafted in November. Allen told The Herald she had not seen the actual posters but had been alerted to their content. “I was e-mailed on Wednesday morning and told that there were notes on University Hall that had my name on them … asking what happened to the hate crimes protocol that I had promised two years ago,” she said. “The note on (the) door reminded me, or at least triggered me, to look back at what had happened, and we realized we never sent out (the policy),” Allen said. Allen said she had overlooked the fact that students had not been alerted to the
policy once “the holiday came, and I got back to work and other things took precedent.” Following a spring 2004 incident involving alleged hate crimes against Isaac Rodriguez ’04 and Joel Madrid ’05, Allen said she was asked to “form a committee to think about the policy and procedures we have for making and resolving complaints for discrimination and harassment.” But Gay Shame asserted in a Feb. 3 e-mail to The Herald that Allen’s charge included “the establishment of clear hate crime protocols by fall 2004.” Allen acknowledged that developing the harassment policy had taken longer than some might have wished, adding that she “wanted to be more thorough.” Allen first printed the policy in November and finalized it in December after more than a year of consultation with the community, including two “open forums” and a presentation to the Undergraduate Council of Students. The Feb. 3 e-mail from Gay Shame, signed by “Mary,” said the group “strongly supports the existence of (Brown’s new policy), however such policy should not be confused with hate crime policy and see GAY SHAME, page 8
Slavery and justice research influences other institutions BY LEORA FRIDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
As the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice prepares to submit its findings almost three years after receiving its charge from President Ruth Simmons, the influence of the committee’s work is being felt at other institutions undertaking similar projects across the country. Brown’s slavery and justice committee began its work during a key historical moment when “there was general sense that discussion of race had stalled and individuals were looking for a new way to have some dialogue,” said Catherine Manegold, professor of journalism at Emory University and a founder of the university’s Transforming Community Project. The TCP aims to look into the history of race at Emory and re-examine the school’s current racial climate. According to Manegold, Brown’s example served as a framing tool when Emory decided to start the TCP. Manegold also linked the roots of the TCP to a 2001 symposium at the University of California, Los Angelos in which academics from across the country began to address the contentious issue of reparations. “It is a question of how to re-initiate responsible conversation on this topic,” Manegold said, “and the beauty of Brown’s example was the language of needing fact-based dialogue … around such an emotional subject.” Manegold said she believes the full involvement of Emory’s administrators and staff, in addition to faculty, is a key difference from Brown’s program. Gary Hauk, vice president and deputy to the
Jean Yves Chainon / Herald
Last week, a group called Gay Shame Providence posted a number of fliers across campus, calling on Brown to establish a “hate crime protocol.”
president at Emory, described the TCP’s first year of programming as a series of “community dialogues,” usually centered on an assigned text and designed to “unearth and discuss underlying experiences of race around the campus,” usually centered on an assigned text. Hauk projected that over the next year of the plan, participants will be trained in archival research and oral history techniques so they can research the history of race and slavery at Emory. In the last year of the TCP, participants will use the research to “develop new curricular offerings and to shape our future,” Hauk said. The final phase of the project will involve a look at Emory’s campus today, including “hiring practices (and) avenues for complaint,” Manegold said. Hauk also noted that the connection to Brown’s work continues, as Simmons will give an address titled “The University Between Past and Future” as part of this week’s “Founder’s Week Festival” at Emory. Financial institutions have also been influenced by Brown’s “moral courage and leadership,” according to Roy Brooks, professor of law at the University of San Diego. Brooks cited Chase Manhattan Bank and Bank of America as banks that have researched their own ties to slavery, including the use of slaves as collateral for client loans. They have also taken steps to provide reparations in the form of scholarship funds for descendants of slaves. But Brooks called Bank of America’s actions “less heartfelt” because the company has not acknowledged that it profited from
Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3260
see SLAVERY, page 4
LOVE IN THE AIR
Alanna Tisdale / Herald
Caroline Landau ‘09 was among the students making valentines for Providence children at Brown Hillel on Sunday.
No stage at PC for ‘Vagina Monologues’ BY STU WOO CAMPUS WATCH EDITOR
Arguing that the play contradicts Catholic beliefs, the president of Providence College decided on Jan. 18 to ban oncampus productions of CAMPUS “The Vagina Monologues,” a move that resulted in WATCH protests and counter-protests from students. In a statement released on the college’s Web site, President Rev. Brian Shanley, said he believes the play does not celebrate female sexuality — as it is commonly credited as doing — but rather degrades it. He said he reached this conclusion after
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
carefully reading and studying the awardwinning Eve Ensler play, which also stirred controversy when it debuted on Broadway 10 years ago. “Far from celebrating the complexity and mystery of female sexuality, ‘The Vagina Monologues’ simplifies and demystifies it by reducing it to the vagina,” Shanley said. He also objected to the description of the play as “a bible for a new generation of women” and to a specific scene in the play in which an “alcoholfueled seduction” of a female minor by a 24-year-old woman results in “salvation” and “a kind of heaven.” see MONOLOGUES, page 3 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com